her gaze is pulled from distant shore. her coming back to the council hadn't made as many waves as she'd thought it might. she hadn't even the capacity to care, at that point, with everything else that was going on. she has a cup of coffee in slender hands, soft lilac bruises under her eyes, but they lighten when the other brings up her book.

it's the best thing she's done in a very long time. 

"i - yes, i wouldn't mind the company. thank you. that...means a lot." 

she tucks a braid behind her ear. a gligar drifts lazily overhead. someone on the boat calls for it and sinks into a short skirmish; a few bystanders clap at his catch. 

"my mother had an affinity for dragonair and dragalge. aeris there," she says and gestures out and into the water, where one of the twin serpents flies lazily alongside the boat, "was my first companion."

she takes a sip of her coffee and opens her mouth to ask after the cards, but a moth-like pokemon drifts above their heads. 

ORACELIES SOLAR
spawns: water / flying / dragon

☉

this one reminds her faintly of another, though the abbiati woman had a siren song like nails on a chalkboard. and given this particular sea maiden hasn't started their first discussion together with a self-proclaimed coronation of her hometown, they're already off to a far better start. 

"so many hear dragon and think only of fire and smoke. not too many know their affinity for the sea." it's more than the species of dragon that call the water their home. the ocean is a primordial force and dragons, centuries old creatures that they are, carry its ancient salt in their hides, in the calcium of their bones. 

"mm," she says with a slight smile. she doesn't mind the trainers themselves, or the boats that putt around pacifidlog. the captain is more than happy to chat anyone's ear off about their conservation efforts in the wake of hoenn's multiple disasters.

she looks down at the waters. 

"i - oh, sypha." with her sister, the dragonair hauls the limp body of a haxorus out from the water. frostbite scores its cheeks from one of sypha's ice beams. freya withdraws a ball from her bag and takes the dragons' offering, smiling amusedly.

aeris and sypha twirl away from the boat, towards the shore where onlookers point with oohs and ahs. the engine cuts and they drop anchor, allowing those who wish to partake in casual observation or catching to peruse the area. on the shore, a talonflame screeches in delight.

she props her arms up on the rail rather than follow. 

"if i ask, do you think the ocean would be honest with me?" she says softly. 

ORACELIES SOLAR
catching haxorus

☉

she continues her staring. down, down, down at the currents as they ebb and flow. hearing the bow touch the surface. slateport had been a poor comparison when it came to the sea of her home. port town that slateport was, its waters were dirtier, busier. and it had sand. 

not that she's any reason to worry about slateport's harbors. not anymore.

homesickness comes over her in waves. a confusing clash of warm arms around her sides and the calling of the sea, the echoes of distant caves and rough laughter in her ear. two worlds, split down the middle, stitched together with threadbare silk and no idea how to sew in the first place.

"i thought i was doing the right thing. i still think that. but i...can't help feeling like i'm missing something." i'm missing pieces of me. they're scattered across this region, in the pockets of a spare few, but there are others out there, pieces of myself i've never glimpsed. 

i'm sure of it.

"i've been having dreams," she murmurs. "waking up with the taste of salt on my tongue." glimpses of dragons. black scales rippling over orange. flames turning blue.

she straightens, shakes her head and smile sheepishly. "i haven't even asked your name."

ORACELIES SOLAR
spawns: water / flying / dragon
skipping

☉

it's a name that rolls off the tongue, drawing up to the shore only to pull away at an outstretched hand. a temptress' name, dripping honeyed words from malleable lips. her eyes are such a deep, vibrant blue, an almost-tangible dream realized here before her. 

she looks over the fanned out cards, the delicate artistry painted on their backs. her hand hovers over them, but questions tumble over each other and, wrought with indecision, she takes in a breath. 

aeris and sypha offer another to their mistress. the noibat hangs limply from aeris' jaws and freya chuckles as she gives it a new home. 

home. 

when she thinks of her draciary, her thoughts still turn to the estate. it's not so difficult anymore, shifting to envision the newly repurposed space in ever grande. it's done listlessly. there are worst things she's lost now. 

and for so long she hasn't wondered at the loss of a life she could have had, but now there are questions that keep her awake at night. (but is that entirely fair? most everything keeps her awake at night these days.) now there are dreams. now there is the blurring of the waking and the falling and all the in between has become the other. 

nothing makes sense. who am i? really? she asks as she draws the left-most card. 

wings hold aloft a stoic-faced woman with a shock of bright orange hair. she holds a golden scale in one hand; fin-like wings hug her sides. the currents swallow her calves. freya looks up, thumbing the corner of the card, looking uncertain. 

ORACELIES SOLAR
catching noibat!

☉